


safe then sorry

by flowermasters



Series: lady kylo ren (and her general) [27]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: (minor and in the past), Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Finn/Rey, Not Canon Compliant, Parent-Child Relationship, hux is Shook and doesn't know how to process it: a continuing saga, like at all ... hux's name wasn't armitage when i started okay, rey babysits (bless her), the title is intentionally spelled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 01:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8948404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowermasters/pseuds/flowermasters
Summary: Hux's father has been picked up by Leia's people. Nobody's really sure how to handle it – Hux least of all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ... this thing has been through like six drafts (its final form is actually a 50-50 combination of two drafts) and frankly, I'm tired of looking at it. There's going to be at least one, if not two, direct follow-ups to this; I hope to get those done pretty quickly.
> 
> Warnings for: cisgirl Kylo, established AU (like - you're gonna be hella lost), children, Hux Having Feelings (mostly anxiety), brief mention of past child abuse.

Organa corners Hux as he’s fetching firewood from the pile outside Kylo’s workshop. He’d left the house feeling grateful for the chance to be away from Organa and Rey for a few minutes, as their presence – however innocuous – never fails to put him on edge, even when he's been given advance notice of their visit as he has now. Organa’s appearance in his peripheral vision startles him slightly, though he manages not to show it. She’s a small woman, but Hux feels exposed out here, vulnerable; he doesn’t know what Organa has in mind, but there must be something. Hux sets down the firewood and turns, raising his eyebrows.

Organa must take this for a cue to proceed. “Beni won’t like me telling you this,” she says. “But it concerns you more than her.”

Hux suffers but a second of internal conflict: his strong urge to avoid Kylo’s family at all costs battling unsuccessfully against an immediate surge of curiosity. “Tell me what?”

“We’ve apprehended your father,” Organa tells him, as unceremoniously as though she’s ripping off a bacta patch.

“You – what?” Hux says, wondering if he’s somehow misunderstood her. But he heard her, plain as day; still, it takes him a moment to process this information. First and foremost, he accepts that his father is still alive. Hux had assumed years ago that Brendol must be dead, as he’d be a doddering old man in his eighties by now. It’s just like Brendol to be contrary, avoiding an early death despite all odds. Male Huxes tended not to live much past sixty or seventy, from what Hux had heard in his youth; complications of hypertension usually took them by then. Hux had apparently inherited his mother’s physique – _thin_ if one was generous, _frail_ if one was not – but he’d always expected he’d end up with the family disease anyway, mostly due to stress. There’s less stress in his daily life now, but having children makes that sort of thing stick in one’s mind anyway.

The second matter to consider: Brendol must have done something to make him of value to the Resistance. “What is it that you want with him?” Hux asks, with as much aloofness as he can muster.

“We believe he has information – mostly names and coordinates of a few remaining First Order holdouts,” Organa says. “It doesn't look promising. He’s refusing to speak, refusing meals, that sort of thing.”

It mystifies Hux somewhat that Organa wouldn’t just use the Force for interrogation – probably a breach of ethics, in her book, as it could be deemed torture. Maybe she isn’t strong enough for such a task; Kylo has told him that Organa never received formal training in the Jedi arts. Organa has the Skywalkers, though, so it must be New Republican morality getting in the way. But Organa will never make any headway with Brendol, not if she’s set on doing things the morally upright way – by now he’s probably too old, too set in his ways, to cede to the Resistance.

Hux wonders, even as he opens his mouth to respond, if he’s thinking clearly. He’s been knocked off-kilter, discombobulated, by the mention of his father from someone who has, as far as Hux is concerned, little right to bring up such a thing. “Well, you could let me see him. I know how to handle him when he’s being – difficult.”  

That’s probably still true, as Hux spent the latter part of his youth talking his way out of some thrashing or another. Frankly, he’s shocked at himself for even coming up with the idea, and he’s even more shocked when Organa doesn’t laugh in his face or dismiss the idea offhand. Instead, she stares at him for several long seconds. Hux moves toward the woodpile again, desperate for something to occupy his hands, but all he can do for the time being is stack the logs more neatly.

“Why would you want to help the Resistance?” Organa asks. Hux thinks he detects a hint of contempt in her voice, although he might be projecting.

“I don’t. You might’ve guessed that I don’t care much for what happens to the galaxy anymore,” Hux says, glancing at Organa briefly to see how she will react to this bit of brutal honesty. He concerns himself with four people now, including himself. But the continued existence of the First Order is a threat, and a far more manageable one now than the Republic, thanks to Organa’s success – or near success – at eradicating it. “But if a bit of cooperation from my father can help you restore your peace, then I’ll do what I can.”

Unsurprisingly, Organa’s face remains impassive. “I was under the impression that your relationship with your father was distant.”

It is – was. Hux hasn’t had contact with him in years, not since before his own death. Not since before Starkiller, actually; his father tried a few times in the months after, but Hux had – somewhat childishly – erased each message without opening it. Brendol couldn’t say anything that Hux hadn’t already thought of.

The fact that Organa seems to know something of this sets off a flicker of irritation in Hux. “Did Kylo give you that impression?”

The implication of this passes between them unspoken; Kylo doesn’t have any room to talk where fathers are concerned. Organa doesn’t address this, but her tone gets somehow colder when she continues. “If I were to arrange for this, what makes you think you could talk sense into him when others can’t? And why should I trust you to do it?”

Well, logically, she shouldn’t, but pointing that out won’t help his case – although Hux isn’t entirely sure what his case for this even is, or why he cares in the first place. He’s certainly not motivated by love for his father, but – perhaps by some curious sense of duty? He’s no longer loyal to the Order, but his father isn’t the Order. Brendol now clings to something every bit as dead as the Empire, but he’s intelligent, and capable of being reasoned with by someone who knows how to work around his considerable pride. If Brendol will never truly give in, that’s fine; Hux empathizes. But he can at least act like it, for his own sake.

Hux merely says, “I’ve toed the line for this long, haven’t I?” And he has; he’s stayed here, with Kylo and the children, for years – aside from when he was kidnapped, of course. He’s helped the villagers, implemented a bit of structure into their lives – all without ever taking an official position. Organa has never complained – not to him, at least. Hux knows it’s by her good graces alone that they’ve managed to stay here for so long.

Organa gives him another long, appraising look. Hux meets her gaze head-on, now, unwilling to show weakness and look away; a cold gust of wind ruffles his hair, but he refuses to fix it. When she finishes with whatever assessment she’s making, Organa says, “I sense now that you truly don’t know anything about the First Order since your defection. There were some concerns.”

By that Organa certainly means that _she’d_ had concerns, because anyone else’s opinion is irrelevant at the moment. Hux frowns. “I’m not in on some ridiculous plot with my father, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he says. “I assumed you came to tell me this because you thought I might be of some use.”

“I came here to see my grandchildren, General,” Organa says, raising her eyebrows at him coolly. Hux feels chastised and loathes it. “I thought it was only fair to tell you.”

Hux doesn’t have a response for that; he finds Organa’s fairness befuddling. He’s saved from having to say anything when the front door to the house opens. Kylo steps out into the cold, pale and frowning. She must’ve noticed, finally, that he and Organa have been standing outside talking for – how long has it been? Just a few minutes, surely, but Hux has been too distracted to take stock of time passing.

“I’ll consider your offer,” Organa says, glancing briefly at Kylo before looking back at Hux. She turns without further preamble and heads away from the house, towards the _Falcon_. Unwilling to watch her go or to look at Kylo, Hux finally starts picking up logs, amassing a sizable armful before Kylo joins him.

“What have you done?” Kylo asks, brow furrowed as she studies him.

Hux turns without meeting her gaze, and heads back to the house with the firewood. He hasn’t quite forgiven Kylo for speaking to Organa about his father; Organa might not have confirmed it, but she certainly didn’t deny it. Kylo knows things about Brendol that Hux has never told anybody – _would_ never tell anybody. The very idea of Kylo discussing such things with Organa not only shocks him, it _stings_ – but Hux isn’t sure he has enough of a lid on things to call her on it. “I haven’t done anything,” he says. “She told me about my father.”

He doesn’t have to elaborate; Kylo will pick up the necessary details from his thoughts, if she hasn’t already. She’ll also figure out what Hux has just volunteered to do, and she won’t be pleased –

“By the Force,” Kylo says. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” Hux says flatly, pausing in front of the front door as he waits for Kylo to open it for him. When she doesn’t, he uses his shoulder to nudge the door open and steps back into the house. Kylo follows, her expression somewhere between shock and brewing anger.

“This is – ridiculous,” Kylo says. In the living room, Hux hears Rey’s voice falter for the briefest of beats before she continues speaking to one of the children. “It’s unsafe. It’s completely stupid.”

 _You sound like me_ , Hux thinks distantly, but doesn’t say. “Take it up with your mother,” Hux says, trudging through the kitchen. “I doubt she’s actually considering it.”

Before Hux has even made it to the hearth to deposit the firewood, he hears the front door slam; Kylo must’ve taken his words to heart. The children don’t seem to notice, probably because Kylo similarly abuses every inanimate object when she's in a mood. Padmé dances over and wraps an arm around Hux’s knees, holding up something small and white with her other hand.

“Look, Father,” she says. “Rey made this for me.”

It’s a doll. Though the design is simple, crude even, the outfit and embroidery have been carefully done. Hux avoids looking at Rey, who’s kneeling on the floor across the room with Daniel, and tells Padmé, “That’s very nice, darling.”

Padmé beams up at him, then releases his legs and returns to Rey and her brother. Daniel holds up a doll of his own, smiling; Hux forces an encouraging expression onto his face. He catches Rey’s gaze by accident – she meets his eyes evenly, but she breaks first, distracted by Padmé’s chatter. Hux wonders how much Rey knows – what she’s been able to sense, if anything – and then shakes off the thought. Why should she care one whit about him or his father?

Kylo remains with Organa for at least a half-hour; when she returns, she’s in a fouler mood than before. Hux somewhat resents the idea of her going to Organa to argue against him making a simple decision, but he supposes he shouldn’t have expected anything different – not that he’d had much time at all to form expectations. Hux, pretending to be able to focus on his datapad, has to look at Kylo only once to know that there will be an argument about this the next time they’re alone together.

Organa returns to the house about a half-hour after Kylo does – Hux can only guess at what she’s been doing on the _Falcon_ , but his first guess is sending communications and mapping out logistics. Kylo has been observing Rey and the children for a while, but she immediately returns to the kitchen when Organa enters. Hux sets his datapad down on the kitchen table, feeling bizarrely expectant. 

“Well?” Kylo asks her mother, crossing her arms across her chest.

Organa looks back and forth between the two of them once, then says to the room at large, “Pack your things. If you can manage it, we can leave within the hour.”

Again, it takes Hux a few seconds to process something that should make perfect sense. He’s made no mistake; Organa is addressing them both. “What?” Hux says, gawking at Kylo briefly before he controls his expression. “You can’t.”

Kylo blinks at him. “Surely you don’t think you’re going alone.”

“Don’t be ridiculous – what about the children?” They’ve never been away from the children – well, never voluntarily. At any rate, there’s nobody Hux trusts enough to leave them with.

“I suppose they’ll have to come, too,” Kylo says, an edge of smugness lacing her tone. She thinks she’s cornered him, then; fine. She can have it her way.

“Well,” Hux says. “If you insist.”

Kylo’s expression hardens. “You’re really serious about this.”

“You know I am.”

“I could stop you,” Kylo says. “I _should_ stop you.”

“We both know you won’t,” Hux says. She wouldn’t use the Force to prevent him from doing something like this; Hux and the children are the only ones she would never exert that sort of control over. She’s not above getting her way through other means, of course, but perhaps she can divine the futility of such efforts.

Organa, whose presence has been forgotten – however briefly – by both Hux and Kylo, clears her throat. Kylo and Hux look toward her immediately, almost guiltily; it’s not exactly unprecedented for them to bicker in front of others, but there’s a stark difference between their kitchen and the bridge of the _Finalizer_. “Beni,” Organa says. “We discussed this.”

“Fine,” Kylo says, voice sharp. “But I’m going with Hux. Every step of the way.”

Hux looks to Organa, waiting for her to implore Kylo to see reason. He’s disappointed; Organa merely says, “Then I suppose you’d better start packing.”

Kylo turns and sweeps from the room before Hux can say anything more, and he resists the urge to glare at Organa like a petulant child. Frustrated though he is that Kylo’s throwing an obvious wrench in things, showing that frustration now will do no good – the decision has clearly been made, whether he likes it or not. Hux stands and follows Kylo, cognizant of Organa’s eyes on him as he leaves the room to break the news to the children.

Padmé, for once in her life, turns out to be the easier child to handle. She’s delighted at the prospect of going somewhere with Rey and her grandmother, and manages to avoid getting underfoot for a whole hour. Daniel, on the other hand, begins to weep profusely at the very thought of leaving Millicent behind – even for just a day – which somehow results in Hux carrying a squirming Millicent, along with a bag of the children’s things, to the _Falcon_. Daniel’s tantrums are few and far between, but his sulks can last far longer than any three-year-old’s moods have a right to. At times like this, it’s best not to question him.

He’s briefly alone with Rey on the ship; she seems to be making preparations for travel, though Hux is not familiar enough with this ship to know what that looks like – she’s mostly walking about checking various gauges. Rey raises her eyebrows at Millicent’s presence, but withholds commentary. Instead, she watches Hux out of the corner of her eye as he releases Millicent with a muttered, “Behave yourself.”

Millicent meows once in response, then slinks off to explore the area under the dejarik table. When Hux straightens up, Rey is no longer looking at him, but he hesitates for a second anyway, wondering inanely if he should explain himself – for what, he’s not sure.

“Yes?” Rey says, turning to him after a moment. Her tone and expression betray nothing; she must’ve been taking cues from Organa. This is not the first time she’s spoken to Hux, but it is the first time without an audience. Hux doesn’t know how Kylo does this sort of thing regularly; isn’t it _strange_ , being friendly with people you’ve tried to kill?

“Nothing,” Hux says. “I was just wondering about – Finn.”

It’s the first excuse that comes to mind; judging by the frown that flickers across Rey’s face, it was the wrong choice. She’s protective of him, of course. Kylo said something recently about the two of them getting married, but Hux isn’t sure if the event has actually passed or not. He’s not about to ask. “What about him?”

There’s no turning back now. “How he is, I suppose.”

Rey gives Hux a brief, narrow-eyed look, perhaps searching for an ulterior motive behind his question. There isn’t one. It bothers him, but Hux can’t help but feel a bit of curiosity about the boy – though he’s no longer a boy anymore, just as Rey has stopped being a girl sometime in the intervening years. Kylo would probably make a joke about Finn being the one that got away, or something equally ridiculous. Plenty left, once Finn paved the way.

“Busy,” Rey says after a few seconds’ pause. “We do have jobs, you know. Things to do.”

She heads off towards the cockpit then, leaving Hux wondering if he’s been dealt an insult. Perhaps, but there's nothing to be done for it. He chalks the encounter up to a failed experiment and busies himself with stowing the children’s bag, refusing to dwell on anything other than the task at hand.

It’s only later, once the ship is in motion and there’s nothing much to busy himself with, that Hux begins to feel the buzz of anxiety in his nerves. The _Falcon_ has been rattling disconcertingly for some time; Hux wants to inquire after the noise, but he supposes someone would know if they were about to blow apart in hyperspace. Even if they’re not nanoseconds away from oblivion, Hux finds the sound grating. He’s grown quite adept at tuning out the playful shrieks of his children, and the drone of space travel goes unnoticed unless he really listens for it, but that blasted _rattling_ –

“Hux,” Kylo says, startling him. “You’re sitting under a vent.”

Hux’s gaze flicks upwards automatically. He is, in fact, seated directly under a vent of some kind. He resists the urge to move away from it – he has nowhere to move to, anyway – and looks away from the slits in the ceiling.

His gaze falls briefly on Kylo. She’s sitting next to him on the cot; they’ve switched positions since the last time they were here, but their choice of seating still gives Hux an uncomfortable, unwanted sense of familiarity with his surroundings. He’s already discreetly checked the area for old bloodstains; someone must have scrubbed them out or switched the bedding, though the area looks no less grubby than it did three and a half years ago. It’s not hard to imagine why, if everyone lounges on it as indolently as Kylo does. She hasn’t taken off her boots, although she’s sitting with her knees pulled loosely to her chest. Her complete lack of decorum remains a constant, at least.

Kylo looks pallid in the dim, yellowish lighting; with her hands pulled slightly into the sleeves of her tunic, she seems younger than she is. Hux has barely thought to ask her if she’s feeling well when she says, “I’m fine.”

Hux frowns. She could at least act like she’s not listening to his every thought.

“I’m not,” Kylo mutters. “You’re thinking loudly.”

“It’s loud in here,” Hux snaps. “I have to, if I want to hear myself think.”

Just across the room, Daniel shouts in protest; his sister has taken his doll away from him. Kylo grimaces at the noise, and Hux sympathizes. He feels the beginnings of a headache forming directly behind his eyes, though whether it’s from noise or stress, he can’t tell.

“You ought to share with your brother,” Rey says gently, before either Hux or Kylo can open their mouths to chastise Padmé.

“He wasn’t even holding it,” Padmé replies, pouting, but she hands over Daniel’s doll anyway. Rey wisely says nothing, merely chucking Padmé under the chin before carrying on making a disc twirl in the air and do tricks for Daniel’s amusement. The disc had never once stopped spinning during this brief interlude.

As uncomfortable as this situation is, Hux is glad now for Rey’s presence. Having someone to distract the children makes space travel under these circumstances a bit more manageable. Hux can’t imagine having to entertain Padmé and Daniel himself right now; he lacks the presence of mind for it. Fortunately, the children’s enthusiasm for Rey hasn’t waned once since her arrival – nor has hers for them, apparently.

The noise must have proven too much for Organa, because she’s disappeared off to some cranny of the ship, presumably to carry on making arrangements for their arrival. Hux hasn’t spoken to her in some time – not since she last addressed them at the house. It unnerves him, having Organa nearby but out of sight – it makes him question what he might have committed to.

Well, he didn’t exactly commit to anything. A voice at the back of his mind, undoubtedly his own but nevertheless reminiscent of Kylo’s, reminds him: _you volunteered_.

Perhaps he’s having trouble thinking through this rationally. It would be different if they were all at home; he’d be less on edge, and the children would be less excitable, and Kylo would not be sitting next to him radiating her displeasure the way she is now. He should be doing this alone, not bringing them anywhere near this – or better yet, he shouldn’t be doing this at all. Let Organa have it out with Brendol. Hux wiped his hands of his father long ago; it makes no sense at all to dirty them once more.

“Millie?” Daniel says, startling Hux from his thoughts the way only a child’s panicked cry could. That ridiculous cat must have wandered off – probably chasing vermin, given the state of this ship.

“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” Rey soothes, but Daniel is undeterred. He seems to remember Kylo and Hux suddenly, because he hurries over, looking fretful.

“Mother,” he says, reaching for Kylo’s sleeve.

Kylo loosens her posture, taking Daniel’s small hand with one of her own. “I don’t know,” she says, answering an unasked question. They often communicate like that, half aloud and half silently; it can be confusing, but Hux has gotten used to it. “She can’t have gone far.”  

Hux is out of his seat before he realizes he’s made the decision to get up. “I’ll go and look for her. Chin up, Dan.”

Daniel looks up at Hux, then nods, sniffling. Hux spares a moment to smooth Daniel’s disheveled hair, then leaves the cabin. It takes about five minutes of looking about for Millicent before two things become apparent: the layout of this ship makes no sense, and there’s far too many nooks and crannies for a small cat to find her way into. But the distraction provided by the search is welcome, and Hux devotes his attention to it, frustrating though it is.

Hux makes his way into the innards of the ship, where it’s warm, dark, and humming. This is an ideal hiding spot for Millicent – among other creatures – so Hux calls, “Where are you, you little beast?”

“I’m right here.”

Hux starts; Kylo can’t normally sneak up on him quite so easily with her boots on, but the clatter and hum of the ship has disguised her footsteps. “Very funny,” Hux says, vexed. “Why did you follow me?”

Kylo gestures vaguely at their surroundings – consoles, wiring, and plumbing, for the most part. “Looking for Millicent, same as you.”

When Hux raises an eyebrow at her, skeptical, Kylo’s expression hardens slightly. “And I thought we should talk. Away from everyone.”

Hux had been expecting this from the moment she turned up behind him. He’d prefer just looking for Millicent in peace, but Kylo’s come to psychoanalyze, as always. “Talk, then,” Hux says flatly, moving farther down the narrow corridor. He forgets to actually look for Millicent, but if she’s still tucked away after all this noise, she’s not interested in being found.

“I’d ask if you’ve lost your mind,” Kylo says after a moment, “except I know that you haven’t.” She sounds as though his continued grip on sanity makes matters worse, in her opinion.

“You’re being a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

“You’re being foolish,” Kylo retorts. “It doesn’t suit you.”

Hux stops and turns to look at Kylo, as they’re rapidly running out of room for two grown adults to comfortably move about. This entire ship is cramped, claustrophobically so, and Hux doesn’t know whether he wants to move farther from or closer to Kylo to escape the sensation of the walls breathing. He’s spent probably half his life on one starship or another, so the reason for this sudden, itching discomfort eludes him.

Hux suppresses the feeling in favor of telling Kylo, “If I can get my father to tattle on a few old codgers hiding out in the Unknown Regions, I will. That’s a few less people who’d like to see the pair of us killed.”

“That’s a few old men to the entire Republic, which thinks you’re dead and would prefer you to stay that way.”

“Organa has to protect me,” Hux says, raising his eyebrows. “If not for you, then to save her own arse.”

Kylo’s mouth twists, but she can’t refute this. Her bond with Organa is, ultimately, the only thing which separates Hux from a lifelong stay in a New Republic prison – that, and the fact that Organa has been withholding his location for years, and can’t exactly just turn him over now.

“I just don’t _get_ it,” Kylo says finally. “You _hate_ your father. Is this some kind of midlife crisis?”

Hux lets out an astonished laugh before he can stop himself. “A midlife crisis,” he says, shaking his head. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of a misnomer, given that I’ve already died?”

“I’m being serious. Why else would you want to help the Republic?”

“I don’t,” Hux says. He could care less about the Republic – but the First Order is finally extinguishable, whereas he’s long accepted that Republic will never be. “But it’s something I can do.”

“Sounds like a midlife crisis to me,” Kylo says wryly. “That, or you’re only doing this because you feel obligated, because he’s your father – I can’t put my finger on the truth. It seems you can’t, either.”

“Oh, _enough_ ,” Hux says, moving forward with the intent of squeezing past her, getting out of this hallway before it closes in on him. “You can’t talk me out of this. It’s too late for that.”

“Hux.” Kylo catches his arm. Her voice is both cautious and cautioning now, like she’s talking to a spooked animal. Hux stills, finding the familiar weight of her hand not entirely unwelcome. He resents the careful handling even as a weak, traitorous part of him craves it.

“I’m just – trying to understand,” Kylo says, brow furrowed. “I know I can never talk you out of anything.”

“No,” Hux says after a beat, startled by this concession. He elects to pursue this line of thinking instead of the previous one, because he can’t possibly explain something to Kylo when he doesn’t understand it himself. “Only _into_ things, really.”

She surprises him with a half-smile; she looks tired and unexpectedly soft in the half-dark. “You have to admit I’m usually right.”

“Is that so?” Hux says. The break in the tension of the last several hours feels like ice water down a parched throat, and Hux drinks it up greedily. It’s hard enough being here, on this ship and on the way to see his father for the first time in years, without Kylo being angry with him. “Where’s Millicent, then? Since you’re all-knowing.”

Kylo wrinkles her nose. “Close, but hiding. My father used to send me into the ducts that nobody else could fit into – there’s plenty of places for her to be.”

Hux wants to be charmed by the idea of a small Kylo crawling through the ventilation shafts, but mostly he thinks, _how unsanitary_. “We’ll never find the wretched thing, then.”

“Not until she wants to be found.” Her hand is still loose at Hux’s forearm; when she notices him noticing it, Kylo adds, “You’re tense.”

Hux rolls his eyes. He’s been tense ever since Organa followed him outside to the woodshed – even before that, really. Ever since she and Rey came to visit. His neck and jaw and shoulders ache with it. “I’ve been told I’m always tense.”

“You are,” Kylo agrees. “Exceptionally so.”

Hux expects to be kissed; it's the sort of line that suggests kissing. He waits for Kylo’s strong hand at the back of his neck, reaches out and draws her flush against him and needs it, somehow, very badly. Kylo responds when he kisses her, instead, but otherwise remains immobile against his chest. After a moment of this, she eases her face away from his, her hesitation palpable.

“Hux,” Kylo says, looking at him briefly before glancing away. Her eyes gleam slightly in the dirty light, the brown of them nearly black. “Not here.”

“What?” Hux says. “Don’t want to spoil the memories?”

Now she does pull away from him, frowning. “Don’t,” she snaps.

Hux had meant it as a joke, but perhaps he feels a bit stung despite himself; Kylo must sense this, judging by her reaction. “Fine,” Hux says curtly. “We need to get back to the children, anyway.”

Kylo pauses, cocking her head briefly. Hux wonders briefly if she’s listening out for the children, but instead she says, “Leia’s looking for you.”

Hux frowns. “Where is she?”

“The cockpit.” Kylo turns and heads back the way she came, clearly expecting Hux to follow her. He does, but not before spotting a pair of reflective eyes peeking out at him from behind a wall panel that hangs slightly ajar.

“You little shit,” Hux says, tugging on the paneling. Millicent does not resist when he scoops her out from amongst the wires. She not only lets him remove her without scratching him, she affectionately sinks her claws into the fabric of his sweater. The cat then hangs there, meowing occasionally, until Hux carries her back to an overjoyed Daniel on his way to the cockpit.

Organa and Kylo are waiting for him there. Organa is sitting in the copilot’s chair with a datapad in her lap, but the Aurebesh is too small for Hux to read at this distance. Kylo is standing, facing the viewport; outside, there’s nothing but the familiar blue glow of hyperspace. Reflexively, Hux moves to stand next to Kylo. She tears her gaze from the viewport when he approaches, looking vaguely dazed by the light.

“Well?” Hux says, resisting the urge to brush several strands of Millicent’s orange fur off the front of his sweater.

Organa meets his gaze evenly. “We’ll land in about an hour, if all goes well.”

Hux waits, sure that he’s been summoned for more than just an ETA. After a beat, Organa continues, “Your father is being held at a small Resistance outpost – there’s limited personnel onsite. With that said, you’ll obviously need to be disguised. Just your face and hair, really.”

“No one will notice him,” Kylo says, as grimly self-assured as ever when talking about the Force. Hux can’t deny that, of all Kylo’s mystical abilities, the power to subtly twist the perceptions of others to suit her needs seems the most convenient.

Organa nods once, as if she’d expected a comment to this effect. “You’ll speak with your father in an interrogation room. If Beni insists on going with you, she may – but you’re to behave as we discussed,” she says. The last part is aimed directly at Kylo, who looks like she wants to roll her eyes, but doesn’t. “Rey will stay with the children. Try to make it brief – we don’t need much. All you need to do is convince him to give up the holdouts that he’s aware of.”

“Is that all,” Hux says dryly. Though he’s been cavalier about it thus far, Hux is suddenly doubtful of his former ability to play Brendol like a game of holochess; it’s been years, after all, and Brendol will probably be angry with him – angrier than even Hux has ever seen him. Nevertheless, it’s a challenge he’s already agreed to undertake. As he told Kylo before – it’s too late to turn back now. Hux couldn’t bear the thought of Organa seeing him run and hide from his father like a scared child.

As if hearing this, Kylo looks toward Hux, frowning visibly. He doesn’t meet her eyes, unsure what he will find in them if he does.

“That’s all,” Organa says. “Leave the finer details to me. Unless you have any questions?”

“No,” Hux says, aware of Kylo’s eyes still on him. His own gaze finds the viewport, a true neutral ground. “None.”


End file.
